Rep. Schiff Co-sponsors The Tax INFO Act To Increase Government Transparency, Accountability

Press Release

Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) joined members of the Blue Dog Coalition in introducing the Tax Information for New Fiscal Oversight (INFO) Act. This legislation, cosponsored by Rep. Schiff, will provide a commonsense budget enforcement tool that will require the Joint Committee on Tax (JCT) to provide Congress and the public with a straightforward analysis of each provision in the tax code.

"Families in Southern California and across America have to live within their budgets and examine every dollar they spend, and the Federal government should do the same," Rep. Schiff said. "The Tax INFO Act will increase transparency by exposing wasteful loopholes and special deals hidden in our tax code, making the Federal government more accountable to American taxpayers."

Tax expenditures--credits, deductions, exemptions, and exclusions--accounted for more than $1 trillion in government spending last year, many of which exist in the form of outdated tax loopholes. Yet, Congress lacks a consistent process to analyze and measure tax expenditures to determine whether they are achieving their objectives.

To address this problem, the Tax INFO Act would:

§ Require the JCT to provide an annual analysis of each provision in the tax code for its equity, efficiency, and ease of administration. Just like any small business, the federal government should know how money is being spent, and whether or not it is achieving its intended objective.

§ Require that JCT report on the aggregate revenue lost through the tax code so that the policy makers and the American people can better understand how tax expenditures affect the bottom line.

§ Increase government responsibility and accountability by providing necessary oversight of the estimated $1.2 trillion in spending on tax credits, deductions, exemptions and exclusions each year.

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